Utah is used to
wearing red. Friday night in Alaska
Airlines Arena, the Utes were seeing red.

In volleyball, “red” it the term for a right-side set,
delivered with the setter’s back to the hitter. During Washington’s four-set win, Utah found itself defending more than 60
attacks from the right side.

“I like to set the red,” said Jenni Nogueras before the match. “And Kaleigh (Nelson) likes to hit it.”

In a two-setter offense, each setter is paired with an
opposite for all three rotations that each is on the court. Earlier this
season, Nogueras and Kylin Muñoz were
linked, while Nelson was matched with setter Katy Beals. That changed after Washington defeated Utah in Salt
Lake City.

“They have Cassie
(Strickland) in one of my rotations,” Nogueras explained. At 5-8,
Strickland is an effective, but rarely dominating, outside hitter, earning her
spot with sparkling passing and defense. “They want someone who can take the
offensive load during those rotations,” said Nogueras, “and Kaleigh is
comfortable hitting that long distance red I like to set. I trust her and I think
she trusts me.”

Against Utah, Nogueras trusted Nelson enough to set her 42
times, an impressive number for a 3-rotation player in a four-set match. “I
loved it,” said Nelson. “I loved that Jenni trusts to set me the ball that
often.

“I love being the go-to,” she continued. “My arm’s a little
sore, but I’ll bounce right back.”

Washington's Kaleigh Nelson, hitting from the right side, attacks on one of her 42 attempts against Utah-photo by Shutter Geeks Photography

At the most crucial point of the contest, setting red made
all the difference. Utah had evened the match at one set each with improved
passing and serving, and remained neck-and-neck during the third. After two
consecutive Utah stuff blocks gave the Utes a 21-19 lead, coach Jim McLaughlin called his final timeout
of the set.

“It was a battle,” said Washington libero Jenna Orlandini. “We just kept putting
pressure on them. They were gonna break.”

And the breaks came right away. Nelson blasted a kill with
power before Krista Vansant tied the
score with a service ace. Nelson, though, tried an ill-advised tip and put it
right into the net. “My main goal is to stay aggressive,” Nelson said.”
Whenever I made an error tonight, it was because I was tipping the ball.”

After a highlight-reel Orlandini dig, Nogueras trusted
Nelson with another red, and watched it slam past the Utah block. With Utah up 23-22, another Nelson kill again
tied the score, sending both Nogueras and Nelson to the sidelines to make way
for Beals and Muñoz.

All night, Beals had been connecting well with all her
hitters except Muñoz, who had only two kills to that point. But, like Nogueras,
Beals decided to trust red, and Muñoz executed a textbook tip, barely clearing
the fingertips of Utah’s imposing double block. After Utah responded with a
setter dump, Muñoz stayed on the left for a crushing cross-court kill. The
Huskies won the third set on a Vansant/Lianna
Sybeldon block.

“It took us awhile to get going,” said McLaughlin. “When we
didn’t play well in set two, we had to change our tactics.” Specifically, he
said, the Huskies revised their blocking scheme, taking away Utah’s cross-court
and quick opportunities. “We made them hit line. Once we figured that out, we
started touching balls, and they made some errors. I thought we made a good
adjustment.”

The Huskies had clear talking points for the night. “You
know there are going to be ebbs and flows of the game,” said Orlandini. “All
games have ebbs and flows,” said Nelson. Both players meant that a Washington
team that has lost just once all season has learned not to panic when an
opponent goes on a run. Against Utah, Vansant suffered a huge ebb at the end of
set two, being aced twice, hitting a ball long and tipping when she should have
swung hard. But she stormed back the rest of the way, recording 22 kills—her second-highest
total of the season—and stepping up the rest of her game. “Krista kicked in and
dug the ball like crazy,” said McLaughlin.

As is his habit, McLaughlin pointed to areas that need
continued improvement. For one, he thought his setters were pushing too many
balls beyond the antennas. “If you’re going to err, you gotta err inside. We
were erring outside, and hitters were falling away with no power. But we can
fix the thing.”

But mostly he was pleased. He was happy about Strickland’s
passing (“She passed at 83%; that’s unheard of.”) He was happy about Nelson’s
hitting (“She hit high and flat and scored high seam.”) He was happy about
serving (“When we serve tough—and that’s part of our identity—we can make
things happen.”)

The Huskies only loss this season came in Boulder, at the
hands of Colorado. Now it’s the Buffaloes’ turn to play on Washington’s home
court. Huskies fans can only hope that Colorado will see a lot of purple and
gold.

And, of course, red.

NOTES:

During the break between sets one and two Sunday, Washington’s
Tyee Club will conduct a ceremony
retiring former University of Washington All-American Courtney Thompson’s jersey. It will be the first time a woman
athlete’s jersey will be retired in the long history of UW athletics. Softball
star Danielle Lawrie will have her
jersey retired next spring. “Coaching Courtney, there were no good days,” said
McLaughlin with a smile. “They were all great days.”